The French Army Choir at the Royal Opera of Versailles

Program

La Fille du Régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment – 1840) – Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

A two-acts comic opera with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard, premiered at the Opéra-Comique in Paris in 1840.

Following an exceptional success, Donizetti premiered his first french opera in Paris in 1840. King Louis-Philippe had just reopened the doors of Versailles and decided to establish a museum there dedicated ‘to all the glories of France’. Napoleon is honoured there more than Louis XIV, and France is preparing to welcome the return of the Emperor’s ashes with great fervour. Patriotism is at its height, and La Fille du régiment is perfectly in touch with the spirit of the times. To celebrate this unlikely romance between Marie, the canteen girl who has become the regiment’s adopted daughter, and the brave Tonio, who saved the young woman and joined Napoleon’s army, Donizetti lets his creativity run wild.

Starring

The thousandth performance took place in Paris in 1914. During the performances in December 1940 at the New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Lily Pons, following a stunning rendition of ‘Salut à la France’ and sang La Marseillaise, which became a symbol of freedom in the midst of the war. The virtuoso soloists Catherine Trottmann and Patrick Kabongo, accompanied by the French Army Choir, will transport the audience at the Royal Opera to the very heart of the nation!

Sung in French.

With English and French subtitles.